Just play your cards well

Think of someone you really, really envy. It could be anyone — a billionaire, a film star, a Nobel laureate, or even a Buddhist monk. Have you thought of a person? Now, would you swap your life for theirs? If yes, here is the deal: You get all they have,...

The trap of external validation

I know an ex-civil servant, who joined three political parties with diametrically opposite ideologies, to end up in one of the highest positions in government. So why do people do that? Do their political convictions change so fast? Are they so desperate ‘to serve the...

Stop planning, start doing

I have seen people adopt two distinct approaches when they want to start meditating: Approach 1: Sit down and meditate. Approach 2: Research lots and lots of meditation techniques (and do nothing). In fact, this holds for everything in life. If you want to do...

Tips to regulate social media usage

You don’t have to quit all social media, though some people I admire (e.g., Cal Newport) are big proponents of that. In the last few years, almost all my new friends, running buddies, and connections have come from LinkedIn. Without that, I would have missed out...